By Scott Martin, Ph.D. “The secret to winning is constant, consistent management.” – Tom Landry Winning is the ultimate goal for coaches and athletes. To be an effective leader on the field or court, coaches need to take a look at their coaching behaviors and identify areas in which they can improve. The twelve...More »

by Steve Wininger, Ph.D. The Research on Focusing Attention Most research has examined the attentional focus of runners by categorizing their thoughts as either associative or dissociative. This model proposed by Morgan and Pollock (1977) describes associative thoughts as those that tune into your bodily sensations such as breathing, heart rate, tempo, turnover, shaking...More »

The following is from Wikipedia.org. This is good. Wait until you see the set of examples of violence. Violence in sports can result in chaotic brawls, both by athletes and spectators. They may involve beer bottles, sinks from stadiums, improvised stabbing utensils, stadium seats, and whatever else may be found on hand. In sports...More »

by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. CC-AASP The following article is by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. of McKendree University. She’s an Association for Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” -Lou Holtz Psychologists know a few things about how to...More »

Practice intensity is the will, commitment, and enthusiasm to practice with a purpose. Most coaches consider it an important characteristic of any successful team. The best players and teams have learned to get the most out of practices. They come to practice with an intense focus that directs them to enthusiastic, determined, goal-driven training....More »

Ever had those days. When you just didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t want to go to work or school/uni, and the last thing you wanted to do was go to training. Or maybe you have found yourself going through the same old training session doing the same old thing and confused...More »

The following paragraphs come from a NYT article by Gina Kolata. This is only part of the article. Here’s the link. ROCHESTER, Mich. — When Mike Morgan was in high school in Lincoln, Neb., he wanted to be part of a sports team. But, as he saw it, he did not have much choice....More »

Yesterday four men were gored during the running of bulls in Pamplona, Spain. But if you think the risk of serious injury failed to keep hundreds more from running with the 1,300-pound (600-kilogram) behemoths again today during the city’s famous multi-day festival, think again. What it is that drives some to embrace extreme risks,...More »

Academic motivation as a predictor of academic performance for college athletes has been debated in the literature. This study examined the utility of academic and athletic motivation as a key variable in predicting academic performance among 211 college athletes at a Division I institution in the Midwest. After controlling for background characteristics, results revealed...More »